Introduction. The studies of the future General Health Psychologists (GHP) must comprise two type... more Introduction. The studies of the future General Health Psychologists (GHP) must comprise two types of competences in terms of European Higher Education Area (EHEA): 1) general competences as professionals in a changing labor context, and 2) specific competences from the Psychologist's professional profile. In this sense, the public speaking forms part of the "Oral and written communication in your own language" competence, one of the most important generic competence in the new EHEA Studies. Furthermore, it is also considered a specific competence in health professions. Despite the high probability to use this competence in different contexts, it has been proven that this competence generates high stress in students and could be, in some cases, an important academic and employability limitation. The public speaking fear and the lack of knowledge/training about how to do a speech are the major barriers in order to do it correctly. Goals. Through this project we would like to achieve the following goals: 1) To enhance theoretical and practice knowledge about the public speaking competence in the GHP Master' s students, and 2) To enhance the self-efficacy and confidence levels in the GHP Master's students on this specific competence. Method. We are conducting a pilot study with 30 students, 7 men and 23 women, from the GHP Master at the University of Zaragoza. First, we will conduct a pre-test assessment about public speaking self-efficacy (Public Speaking Self-efficacy Questionnaire) and about the public speaking confidence (Personal Report of Confidence as Speaker Questionnaire). Second, we will organize two workshops: 1) oral communication skills and technical voice practice, and 2) how to structure and deliver speeches. Third, students will start training in different subjects of the GHP Master and the professors will assess the speeches through the ECO Scale. This scale assesses from 1 to 5 points the following variables: facial expression, bodily expression, eye contact, fluency, volume, intonation, and speech content. After the training period, we will assess again all students with the same pre-test questionnaires (post-test) and we will compare the means obtained in the two assessment periods (Student's t-test, p<.05). We will also present a progression chart with the ECO Scale scores. Results. We hope that the knowledge improvement about how to speak in public contexts combined with the training in different subjects (different contents and professors), it will influence, in a statistically significant manner, the enhancement of the self-efficacy and confidence scores to speak in public contexts. We also hope that the training will improve the ECO Scale scores over time. Conclusions. In higher education studies, the time spend for developing practical competences (knowhow), as in the case of public speaking competence, is comparatively lower than the time spend for developing theoretical knowledge (know-what). The public speaking is a core competence for the professional development of the future GHP and because of that we should ensure its training over the GHP Master studies. We consider that the methodology described in this project could allow positive and objective results because of the specific measures administered and the systematic professor's observation.
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, Jun 24, 2022
This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative... more This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY
Introduction Grief is an emotional reaction to the loss of a loved one with a natural recovery. A... more Introduction Grief is an emotional reaction to the loss of a loved one with a natural recovery. Approximately 10% of people who lose a loved one develop prolonged grief disorder (PGD). Internet-based and computer-based interventions (ie, internet-delivered cognitive-behavioural therapy, iCBT) are a cost-effective alternative that makes it possible to reach more people with PGD. The main aim of this study is to assess the feasibility of a new iCBT-called GROw-for PGD. As a secondary objective, the potential effectiveness of GROw will be explored. Methods and analysis This study is a two-arm feasibility randomised trial. A total of 48 adults with PGD who meet the eligibility criteria will be randomised to the experimental group (iCBT: GROw) or the active control group (face-to-face CBT treatment). The treatment is organised sequentially in eight modules in the iCBT format and 8-10 sessions in the face-to-face format, and both formats have the same therapeutic components. There will be five assessment points with qualitative and quantitative evaluations: screening, baseline, after the intervention, 3-month follow-up and 12-month follow-up. Consistent with the objectives, the measures are related to the feasibility outcomes for the main aim of the study (participant adherence, expectations and satisfaction with the treatment, preferences, alliance and utility) and psychological and mental health outcomes for secondary analyses (symptoms of grief, symptoms of depression, symptoms of anxiety, affectivity, quality of life, work and social adaptation, post-traumatic growth, purpose in life, mindfulness and compassion). Ethics and dissemination The Ethics Committee of the Universitat Jaume I (Castellón, Spain) granted approval for the study (CD/002/2019). Dissemination will include publications and presentations at national and international conferences. Trial registration number NCT04462146.
acceptability of the program, most participants preferred the TEO condition both before starting ... more acceptability of the program, most participants preferred the TEO condition both before starting the treatment and after completing the homework assignment. Overall, participants were satisfied with all homework sessions and found them useful. Again, no significant differences were found between groups. Conclusion: This is the first time that the effect of an online homework program during AjD treatment has been tested. It is proposed that this way of implementing homework could be as effective as the traditional format, but would be preferred by patients.
Introduction. Time devoted to the supervision of the academic tasks by the teachers in the School... more Introduction. Time devoted to the supervision of the academic tasks by the teachers in the School of Psychology in the Universidad de Zaragoza is very high. The main reasons are the important deficiencies of the students in some general competencies: a) information seeking in scientific sources, b) analysis and synthesis of information, and c) writing scientific papers according to academic standards. Goals. The goals of the present innovation project are: 1) To use an e-learning methodology for the improvement of the teaching-learning process of the academic standards for written tasks, 2) to generate innovative teaching materials that facilitate the learning-teaching process of those standards, 3) to reduce the required time for the teachers in the review of the academic deliveries due to format errors, redaction (plagiarism and APA style) or their structure. Method. Professors participating in this project will develop a set of short tutorials (Power points with audio) including instructions to facilitate the development of academic works, especially the Bachelor Degree Final Project of Psychology Degree and the Master Thesis of the General Health Psychology Master. Students will have access to these tutorials through the Moodle platform. In addition, after seeing the chosen tutorial students will complete a test regarding the content of that tutorial. Results will arrive to their supervising professor. Finally, students will be able to fill a survey about the tutorials utility and their opinion about the e-learning methodology used. We are conducting a pilot study with 50 students. Results. Through this presentation we will show results regarding the first two goals of the study, we will describe the tutorials made and the data obtained from the ad hoc survey. The data from the professor's perspective about the impact of this e-learning methodology will be analyzed at the end of the present academic course. We will present 7 audio-tutorials about: 1) Introduction of academicscientific works; 2) How to do an information search; 3) The APA style; 4) How to write a systematic review; 5) How to write a meta-analysis; 6) How to elaborate an intervention program work (prevention, promotion, and treatment programs); 7) How to write a research study. We hypothesize that the tutorials will receive a positive evaluation in comprehension and utility. We will present the means and standard deviations about the scores obtained through the survey. Conclusions. The utilization of an e-learning methodology at Higher Education Studies could have a positive influence on student's knowledge and competences. Base on this idea we are conducting this innovation project that use an e-learning methodology that is audio tutorials, online tests and survey in Moodle platform, to achieve improvements in our students and professors at University of Zaragoza.
Background: Using a foreign language can influence emotion modulation, but whether different psyc... more Background: Using a foreign language can influence emotion modulation, but whether different psychotherapy processes would be affected by a foreign language is still unclear. The current study explored the foreign language effect on the extinction of fear. Method: During the conditioning phase, part of the neutral stimuli presented to the participants were associated with a threat, while they performed a countdown task in their native language. In the extinction phase, participants performed the same task either in their native/foreign language and were informed that the threat would no longer appear. We collected self-reports of fear, and pupil dilation and electrodermal activity as physiological measures of arousal. Results: Extinction was successful, indicated by greater self-reported fear and pupil dilation during the threat condition compared to neutral in the conditioning phase, but no significant differences during extinction. Although the foreign language group presented higher arousal, fear extinction occurred regardless of the linguistic context. Conclusions: Fear extinction via verbal instructions is equally effective in a foreign and a native language context. These results indicate that evidence should be continue to be gathered on the role of foreign languages using basic paradigms with clinical applications.
According to the principles of positive psychology (PP), social learning, therapeutic robotics an... more According to the principles of positive psychology (PP), social learning, therapeutic robotics and mood induction procedures (MIPs), we have developed an application to be used as part of a positive MIP in a psychological treatment context. We have used the inexpensive humanoid robot Nao because of its ease of use, which allows the proper interaction with therapists to help them on a regular basis. Our hypothesis is that a rich body language set can compensate the lack of facial expressions in such robots. We run a pilot study in the context of cognitive behavioral therapy for the treatment of Fibromyalgia. This work introduces a new way to contribute to MIPs and to the human-robot interaction (HRI).
Background: Flying Phobia (FP) is a prevalent disorder that can cause serious interference in a p... more Background: Flying Phobia (FP) is a prevalent disorder that can cause serious interference in a person's life. ICBT interventions have already shown their efficacy in several studies, but studies in the field of specific phobias are still scarce. Moreover, few studies have investigated the feasibility of using different types of images in exposure scenarios in ICBTs and no studies have been carried out on the role of sense of presence and reality judgement. The aim of the present study is to explore the feasibility of an ICBT for FP (NO-FEAR Airlines) using two types of images with different levels of immersion (still and navigable images). A secondary aim is to explore the potential effectiveness of the two experimental conditions using two types of images compared to a waiting list control group. Finally, the role of navigable images compared to the still images in the level of anxiety, sense of presence, and reality judgement will also be explored. This paper presents the study protocol. Methods: This study is a three-armed feasibility pilot study with the following conditions: NO-FEAR Airlines with navigable images, NO-FEAR Airlines with still images, and a waiting list group. A minimum of 60 participants will be recruited. The intervention will have a maximum duration of 6 weeks. Measurements will be taken at four different moments: baseline, post-intervention, and two follow-ups (3-and 12-month). Participants' opinions, preference, satisfaction and acceptance regarding the images used in the exposure scenarios will be assessed. FP symptomatology outcomes will also be considered for secondary analyses. The anxiety, sense of presence, and reality judgement in the exposure scenarios will also be analysed. Discussion: This study will conduct a pilot study on the feasibility of an ICBT for FP and it is the first one to explore the evaluation of patients of the two type of images (still and navigable) and the role of presence and reality judgement in exposure scenarios delivered through the Internet. Research in this field can have an impact on the way these scenarios are designed and developed, as well as helping to explore whether they have any effect on adherence. Trial registration: NCT03900559. Trial Registration date 3 April 2019, retrospectively registered.
Resumen: La poblacion actual esta cada vez mas envejecida, sin embargo tan solo un 4% de las pers... more Resumen: La poblacion actual esta cada vez mas envejecida, sin embargo tan solo un 4% de las personas de la tercera edad son usuarios de Internet, poniendo este dato de manifiesto la necesidad de tomar acciones que ayuden romper con la barrera digital que existe actualmente. La tesis doctoral que nos ocupa se enmarca dentro de la Psicologia Experimental, y mas concretamente en el campo de la ergonomia cognitiva y la usabilidad. Esta tesis tiene como objetivo principal disenar, evaluar y someter a prueba en poblacion real, un sistema basado en tecnologia Web para la tercera edad, que incluya los servicios mas populares integrados en una sola plataforma y que se adapte a las necesidades especificas de este grupo de poblacion, para que pueda ser utilizado por diferentes perfiles de usuarios (incluidos aquellos con baja habilidad tecnologica), de forma autonoma, sin entrenamiento previo y sin una figura de soporte permanente. El objetivo es que el propio sistema entrene a los usuarios de la tercera edad, y les permita una aproximacion a las TICs, adaptando el sistema a su modelo mental y su experiencia previa con el consumo de informacion tradicional. La tesis se estructura en un marco teorico y un marco experimental. El marco teorico revisa y expone los estudios sobre el tema de la tesis doctoral. El marco experimental, esta dividido en 4 estudios que presentan de forma secuencial los distintos trabajos realizados a lo largo del desarrollo del sistema. La estructura del marco experimental sigue el proceso del metodo cientifico: formulacion de los objetivos e hipotesis, diseno del estudio experimental, recogida y analisis de los datos, interpretacion y discusion de los resultados y obtencion de las conclusiones. Las conclusiones de esta tesis doctoral constituyen una contribucion al proceso de diseno de sistemas tecnologicos para la tercera edad a dos niveles: a nivel teorico, la aportacion fundamental de este trabajo es haber demostrado la importancia que tiene la variable navegacion en los sistemas orientados a la tercera edad, demostrando nuestros datos que la navegacion lineal es la mas adecuada para este tipo de usuarios. A nivel empirico constituye una vision integradora de las distintas perspectivas existentes, que han ido encajando en los diferentes momentos de desarrollo. El proceso de desarrollo completo, permite obtener una vision multidimensional del significado que la usabilidad tiene cuando nos referimos a usuarios de la tercera edad, entendiendo de este modo que todos los estudios revisados, aportan informacion sustancial para solucionar el problema que supone la tecnologia para este grupo de edad, pero que por separado, resultan insuficientes. Resenas bibliograficas: Castilla, D., Garcia-Palacios, A., Breton-Lopez, J., Miralles, I., Farfallini, L., Botella, C., Banos, R. M., Etchemendy, E. (2013). Process of design and usability evaluation of a telepsychology Web and virtual reality system for the elderly: Butler. International Journal of Human Computer Studies, 71(3), 350-362. Botella, C., Etchemendy, E., Castilla, D., Banos, R. M., Garcia-Palacios, A., Quero, S., Alcaniz, M., Lozano, J. A. (2009). An e-Health System for the Elderly (Butler Project): A Pilot Study on Acceptance and Satisfaction. Cyberpsychology and Behavior, 12(3), 255-262. Preschl, B., Maercker, A., Wagner, B., Forstmeier, S., Ban?os, R. M., Alcan?iz, M., Castilla, D., ... Botella, C. (2012). Life-review therapy with computer supplements for depression in the elderly: a randomized controlled trial. Aging & Mental Health, 16(8), 964-974. Etchemendy, E., R.M. Banos, C. Botella, D. Castilla, M. Alcaniz, P. Rasal, and L. Farfallini. 2011. "An e-health platform for the elderly population: The butler system". Computers & Education, 56(1): 275-279. Lozano, JA; Alcaniz, M; Botella, C; Castilla, D; Juan, MC; de la Vega, NL; Llorca, G; Garcia-Palacios, A; Quero, S; Banos, R. (2006) Butler Project: A cognitive and emotional tele-assistance system for ederly people. Cyberpsychology & Behavior, 9(6), 696-697. Etchemendy,E, Banos,R , Botella, C y Castilla, D. (2010). Programa de revision de vida apoyado en las nuevas tecnologias para las personas mayores: Una aplicacion de tecnologias positivas. Escritos de Psicologia (Internet). Botella, C., Banos, R. M., Etchemendy, E., Castilla, D., Garcia-Palacios, A., & Mariano, A. (2012). An E-Health System for Promoting Wellbeing in the Elderly: The Butler System. En A. Smedberg (Ed.), E-Health Communities and Online Self-Help Groups: Applications and Usage (pp. 57-71). Hershey, PA: Medical Information Science DOI:10.4018/978-1-60960-866-8.ch004 Descriptores ? Psicologia Experimental ? Ergonomia Cognitiva ? Usabilidad
Background: Chronic pain has become a major health problem across the world, especially in older ... more Background: Chronic pain has become a major health problem across the world, especially in older adults. Unfortunately, the effectiveness of medical interventions is modest. Some have argued that assessment strategies should be improved if the impact of medical interventions is to be improved. Ecological momentary assessment using smartphones is now considered the gold standard in monitoring in health settings, including chronic pain. However, to the best of our knowledge, there is no randomized controlled trial to show that telemonitoring using a smartphone app can indeed improve the effectiveness of medical treatments in adults with chronic pain. The goal of this study will be to explore the effects of using a smartphone app for telemonitoring adults with chronic pain. Methods: The study will be a randomized controlled trial with three groups: treatment as usual (TAU), TAU+app, and TAU+app+alarms. All groups will receive the adequate treatment for their pain, which will be prescribed the first day of study according to clinical guidelines. Assessment in the TAU group will be the usual at the Pain Clinic, that is, a paper-and-pencil evaluation at the onset of treatment (beginning of study) and at follow up (end of study, 30 days later). The other two groups (TAU+app and TAU+app+alarms) will be assessed daily using Pain Monitor, a smartphone app developed by our multidisciplinary team. Telemonitoring will only be made in the TAU+app+alarms group. For this group, physicians at the Pain Clinic may decide to adjust pain treatment in response to alarms. Telemonitoring is not the usual practice at the Pain Clinic and will not occur in the other two groups (TAU and TAU+app), so no changes in treatment are expected in these groups after the first appointment. The total sample size will be 150, with 50 patients in each group. The assessment protocol will be the same in all groups and will include pain intensity and side effects of the medication (primary outcomes), together with several pain-related variables like pain interference, activity level, use of rescue medication, pain catastrophizing, and pain acceptance, among others. Discussion: We believe that the present trial has important clinical implications. We think that telemonitoring using ecological momentary assessment is crucial to improve current interventions for pain. The armamentarium of available treatments for pain is large, so physicians can turn to different treatments or dosages in the presence of an undesired event. The use of the app for telemonitoring can allow for this rapid detection of unwanted events, thus improving patient safety (i.e., withdrawal of treatment causing side effects) and augmenting treatment effectiveness (i.e., changing an ineffective treatment or dosage). In a time when smartphones are a mainstream technology, we should take advantage of them in the promotion of health care. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03247725. Registered on 25 July 2017.
Objective. Overall, the literature on the effectiveness of psychological treatments in general an... more Objective. Overall, the literature on the effectiveness of psychological treatments in general and those for fibromyalgia in particular has been dominated by research designs that focus on large groups and explore changes on average, so the treatment impact at the individual level remains unclear. In this quasi-experimental, replicated single-case design, we will test the feasibility and effectiveness of a brief acceptance and committed therapy intervention using ecological momentary assessment supported by technology. Methods. e sample comprised 7 patients (3 in the individual condition and 4 in the group condition) who received a brief, 5-week psychological treatment. Patient evolution was assessed one week prior to treatment onset and during the whole study with a smartphone app. Because ecological momentary assessment and the use of an app are not frequent practices in routine care, we also evaluated the feasibility of this assessment methodology (i.e., compliance with the app). Change was investigated with a nonoverlap of all pairs index. Outcomes were pain interference with sleep and social activities, fatigue, sadness, and pain intensity. Results. Patient change was not uniform across outcomes. Four patients (two in each condition) showed relatively moderate levels of change (approximately 60% nonoverlap in several outcomes). e remaining patients showed more modest improvements which affected a reduced number of outcomes. Based on nonoverlapping indices, there was no clear evidence in favor of any treatment format. Conclusions. An alternative design to large-scale trials, one that focuses on the individual change, exists and it can be implemented in pain research. e use of technology (e.g., smartphones) simplifies such designs by facilitating ecological momentary assessment. Based on our findings showing that changes were not homogeneous across patients or outcomes, more single-case designs and patient-centered analyses (e.g., responder and moderation analyses) are required.
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, Sep 9, 2020
Background. The usefulness of mHealth in helping to target face-to-face interventions for chronic... more Background. The usefulness of mHealth in helping to target face-to-face interventions for chronic pain more effectively remains unclear. In the present study, we aim to test whether the Pain Monitor mobile phone application (app) is well accepted by clinicians, and can help improve existent medical treatments for patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain. Regarding this last goal, we compared three treatment conditions, namely usual treatment, usual treatment with an app without alarms and usual treatment with an app with alarms. All treatments lasted one month. The three treatments were compared for all outcomes, i.e., pain severity and interference, fatigue, depressed mood, anxiety and anger. Methods. In this randomized controlled trial, the usual monitoring method (i.e., onsite; n = 44) was compared with daily ecological momentary assessment using the Pain Monitor app-both with (n = 43) and without alarms (n = 45). Alarms were sent to the clinicians in the presence of pre-established undesired clinical events and could be used to make treatment adjustments throughout the one-month study. Results. With the exception of anger, clinically significant changes (CSC; 30% improvement) were greater in the app + alarm condition across outcomes (e.g., 43.6% of patients experienced a CSC in depressed mood in the app + alarm condition, which occurred in less than 29% of patients in the other groups). The clinicians were willing to use the app, especially the version with alarms. Conclusions. The use of apps may have some benefits in individual health care, especially when using alarms to tailor treatments.
Acceptability (i.e. patients' expectation and satisfaction with the treatment) is claimed as an i... more Acceptability (i.e. patients' expectation and satisfaction with the treatment) is claimed as an important and additional criterion besides efficacy. Nevertheless, the literature addressing this issue in the field of Internet-based treatments for specific phobias is scarce, and no studies for Flying Phobia (FP) are available. This study aims to explore the relationship between expectations and satisfaction with treatment and clinical variables in patients who have received an Internet-based treatment for FP (NO-FEAR Airlines). The sample included 46 participants from a randomized controlled trial. Clinical measures were: Fear of Flying Questionnaire-II, Fear of Flying scale, Fear and Avoidance Scales, Clinician Severity Scale, and Patient's Improvement Scale. Results showed significant correlations between expectations, satisfaction and the change on different clinical variables. Patients' expectations significantly correlated and predicted satisfaction with the treatment. Results also revealed that satisfaction with the treatment remained as a significant predictor of the change on all clinical variables. In sum, this study offers data on the relationship between acceptability measurements and clinical variables in patients receiving an Internet-based treatment for FP.
We also recommend Powered by Sign in or create an account for a better, personalized experience I... more We also recommend Powered by Sign in or create an account for a better, personalized experience I consent to the use of Google Analytics and related cookies across the TrendMD network (widget, website, blog). Learn more Yes No
Emotions are at the core of human nature. There is evidence that emotional reactivity in foreign ... more Emotions are at the core of human nature. There is evidence that emotional reactivity in foreign languages compared to native languages is reduced. We explore whether this emotional distance could modulate fear conditioning, an essential mechanism for the understanding and treatment of anxiety disorders. A group of participants was verbally informed (either in a foreign or in a native language) that two different stimuli could be either cueing the potential presence of a threat stimulus or its absence. We registered pupil size and electrodermal activity and calculated the difference in psychophysiological responses to conditioned and to unconditioned stimuli. Our findings provided evidence that verbal conditioning processes are affected by language context in this paradigm. We report the first experimental evidence regarding how the use of a foreign language may reduce fear conditioning. This observation opens the avenue to the potential use of a foreign language in clinical contexts. About 1800 years ago, a tombstone for Regina was set near the Hadrian's Wall in England. Regina was a slave who was freed and married Barates, a man from Palmyra. Barates erected a monument with a Latin inscription dedicated to her: "To the spirits of the departed and to Regina, his freedwoman and wife. Barates of Palmyra set this up. She was a Catuvellaunian by tribe, aged 30". Interestingly, after this relatively neutral description, Barates added a lament in his native language, Aramaic: "Regina, the freedwoman of Barates, alas!". Barates changed languages probably because his emotional experience was best captured in his native tongue. Here, we address whether language context affects the development of a basic emotion, fear. Emotions and feelings are at the core of human nature. We all experience joy, sadness, sorrow, contempt, and fear, and we often use language to communicate these feelings. Interestingly, the vehicle used to express these emotions seems to affect how we experience them. Highly emotional words or expressions do not seem to prompt the same emotional reaction in the native and foreign languages, as Barates' story reveals 1,2. Why this happens is still unknown, but it is probably related to how native and foreign languages are typically acquired. While native languages are acquired in emotionally rich family contexts, foreign languages are often learned in more emotionally neutral academic contexts 3,4. This differential emotional reactivity has widespread effects in various cognitive domains, as revealed by the so-called foreign language effect on decision-making and language processing. For example, loss and risk aversion are reduced in foreign language contexts 5,6. Also, people tend to opt for utilitarian options more often in a foreign language when facing moral dilemmas 7 , and foreign language contexts affect automatic stages of emotional processing, modulating responses to self-related stimuli 8. Finally, processing highly arousing negative sentences elicit a reduced psychophysical response when sentences are presented in a foreign language 9,10. Three non-mutually exclusive factors have been suggested to be behind the foreign language effect: a reduction in emotional reactivity, a reduction in cognitive fluency, and an increase in psychological distance (see Costa et al. 11 and Hayakawa et al. 12 , for reviews).We do not know, however, how these factors interact to give rise to this effect. In any case, the notion that foreign language contexts increase emotional distance and/or reduce emotional reactivity is receiving strong empirical support. This opens doors to the potential use of foreign languages in scenarios where it would be desirable a less (or more) emotional involvement, like conflict resolution, moral judgment, healthy choices, or even psychotherapy. Here we focus on whether fear acquisition can be modulated by the language context in which people are set.
El uso de las nuevas tecnologias y, en concreto, la difusion de internet ha sido de gran relevanc... more El uso de las nuevas tecnologias y, en concreto, la difusion de internet ha sido de gran relevancia en el ambito academico. Junto a esto, el fomento de la independencia y la autonomia por parte del alumno han sugerido propuestas de metodologias docentes novedosas e innovadoras. Entre ellas, destaca la puesta en marcha de proyectos que, mediante internet, permitan una docencia no presencial que aporta una serie de ventajas tanto al estudiante como al profesorado. En este marco se engloba el objetivo principal del presente proyecto que persigue el desarrollo de un software para la aplicacion de una practica de aula no presencial de la asignatura I56 Tecnicas de Intervencion y Tratamiento Psicologicod e la licenciatura de Psicologia. Los resultados obtenidos mediante la puesta en marcha de esta practica en el curso 2008-2009 confirman los ya recogidos en proyectos anteriores. Esto es, una idoneidad de la metodologia empleada asi como la satisfaccion y valoracion positiva por parte de los estudiantes de la misma. Por ultimo, se plantea la necesidad de continuar con propuestas de este tipo que acerquen al estudiante universitario a metodologias docentes propias del Espacio de Educacion Europea.
Introduction. The studies of the future General Health Psychologists (GHP) must comprise two type... more Introduction. The studies of the future General Health Psychologists (GHP) must comprise two types of competences in terms of European Higher Education Area (EHEA): 1) general competences as professionals in a changing labor context, and 2) specific competences from the Psychologist's professional profile. In this sense, the public speaking forms part of the "Oral and written communication in your own language" competence, one of the most important generic competence in the new EHEA Studies. Furthermore, it is also considered a specific competence in health professions. Despite the high probability to use this competence in different contexts, it has been proven that this competence generates high stress in students and could be, in some cases, an important academic and employability limitation. The public speaking fear and the lack of knowledge/training about how to do a speech are the major barriers in order to do it correctly. Goals. Through this project we would like to achieve the following goals: 1) To enhance theoretical and practice knowledge about the public speaking competence in the GHP Master' s students, and 2) To enhance the self-efficacy and confidence levels in the GHP Master's students on this specific competence. Method. We are conducting a pilot study with 30 students, 7 men and 23 women, from the GHP Master at the University of Zaragoza. First, we will conduct a pre-test assessment about public speaking self-efficacy (Public Speaking Self-efficacy Questionnaire) and about the public speaking confidence (Personal Report of Confidence as Speaker Questionnaire). Second, we will organize two workshops: 1) oral communication skills and technical voice practice, and 2) how to structure and deliver speeches. Third, students will start training in different subjects of the GHP Master and the professors will assess the speeches through the ECO Scale. This scale assesses from 1 to 5 points the following variables: facial expression, bodily expression, eye contact, fluency, volume, intonation, and speech content. After the training period, we will assess again all students with the same pre-test questionnaires (post-test) and we will compare the means obtained in the two assessment periods (Student's t-test, p<.05). We will also present a progression chart with the ECO Scale scores. Results. We hope that the knowledge improvement about how to speak in public contexts combined with the training in different subjects (different contents and professors), it will influence, in a statistically significant manner, the enhancement of the self-efficacy and confidence scores to speak in public contexts. We also hope that the training will improve the ECO Scale scores over time. Conclusions. In higher education studies, the time spend for developing practical competences (knowhow), as in the case of public speaking competence, is comparatively lower than the time spend for developing theoretical knowledge (know-what). The public speaking is a core competence for the professional development of the future GHP and because of that we should ensure its training over the GHP Master studies. We consider that the methodology described in this project could allow positive and objective results because of the specific measures administered and the systematic professor's observation.
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, Jun 24, 2022
This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative... more This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY
Introduction Grief is an emotional reaction to the loss of a loved one with a natural recovery. A... more Introduction Grief is an emotional reaction to the loss of a loved one with a natural recovery. Approximately 10% of people who lose a loved one develop prolonged grief disorder (PGD). Internet-based and computer-based interventions (ie, internet-delivered cognitive-behavioural therapy, iCBT) are a cost-effective alternative that makes it possible to reach more people with PGD. The main aim of this study is to assess the feasibility of a new iCBT-called GROw-for PGD. As a secondary objective, the potential effectiveness of GROw will be explored. Methods and analysis This study is a two-arm feasibility randomised trial. A total of 48 adults with PGD who meet the eligibility criteria will be randomised to the experimental group (iCBT: GROw) or the active control group (face-to-face CBT treatment). The treatment is organised sequentially in eight modules in the iCBT format and 8-10 sessions in the face-to-face format, and both formats have the same therapeutic components. There will be five assessment points with qualitative and quantitative evaluations: screening, baseline, after the intervention, 3-month follow-up and 12-month follow-up. Consistent with the objectives, the measures are related to the feasibility outcomes for the main aim of the study (participant adherence, expectations and satisfaction with the treatment, preferences, alliance and utility) and psychological and mental health outcomes for secondary analyses (symptoms of grief, symptoms of depression, symptoms of anxiety, affectivity, quality of life, work and social adaptation, post-traumatic growth, purpose in life, mindfulness and compassion). Ethics and dissemination The Ethics Committee of the Universitat Jaume I (Castellón, Spain) granted approval for the study (CD/002/2019). Dissemination will include publications and presentations at national and international conferences. Trial registration number NCT04462146.
acceptability of the program, most participants preferred the TEO condition both before starting ... more acceptability of the program, most participants preferred the TEO condition both before starting the treatment and after completing the homework assignment. Overall, participants were satisfied with all homework sessions and found them useful. Again, no significant differences were found between groups. Conclusion: This is the first time that the effect of an online homework program during AjD treatment has been tested. It is proposed that this way of implementing homework could be as effective as the traditional format, but would be preferred by patients.
Introduction. Time devoted to the supervision of the academic tasks by the teachers in the School... more Introduction. Time devoted to the supervision of the academic tasks by the teachers in the School of Psychology in the Universidad de Zaragoza is very high. The main reasons are the important deficiencies of the students in some general competencies: a) information seeking in scientific sources, b) analysis and synthesis of information, and c) writing scientific papers according to academic standards. Goals. The goals of the present innovation project are: 1) To use an e-learning methodology for the improvement of the teaching-learning process of the academic standards for written tasks, 2) to generate innovative teaching materials that facilitate the learning-teaching process of those standards, 3) to reduce the required time for the teachers in the review of the academic deliveries due to format errors, redaction (plagiarism and APA style) or their structure. Method. Professors participating in this project will develop a set of short tutorials (Power points with audio) including instructions to facilitate the development of academic works, especially the Bachelor Degree Final Project of Psychology Degree and the Master Thesis of the General Health Psychology Master. Students will have access to these tutorials through the Moodle platform. In addition, after seeing the chosen tutorial students will complete a test regarding the content of that tutorial. Results will arrive to their supervising professor. Finally, students will be able to fill a survey about the tutorials utility and their opinion about the e-learning methodology used. We are conducting a pilot study with 50 students. Results. Through this presentation we will show results regarding the first two goals of the study, we will describe the tutorials made and the data obtained from the ad hoc survey. The data from the professor's perspective about the impact of this e-learning methodology will be analyzed at the end of the present academic course. We will present 7 audio-tutorials about: 1) Introduction of academicscientific works; 2) How to do an information search; 3) The APA style; 4) How to write a systematic review; 5) How to write a meta-analysis; 6) How to elaborate an intervention program work (prevention, promotion, and treatment programs); 7) How to write a research study. We hypothesize that the tutorials will receive a positive evaluation in comprehension and utility. We will present the means and standard deviations about the scores obtained through the survey. Conclusions. The utilization of an e-learning methodology at Higher Education Studies could have a positive influence on student's knowledge and competences. Base on this idea we are conducting this innovation project that use an e-learning methodology that is audio tutorials, online tests and survey in Moodle platform, to achieve improvements in our students and professors at University of Zaragoza.
Background: Using a foreign language can influence emotion modulation, but whether different psyc... more Background: Using a foreign language can influence emotion modulation, but whether different psychotherapy processes would be affected by a foreign language is still unclear. The current study explored the foreign language effect on the extinction of fear. Method: During the conditioning phase, part of the neutral stimuli presented to the participants were associated with a threat, while they performed a countdown task in their native language. In the extinction phase, participants performed the same task either in their native/foreign language and were informed that the threat would no longer appear. We collected self-reports of fear, and pupil dilation and electrodermal activity as physiological measures of arousal. Results: Extinction was successful, indicated by greater self-reported fear and pupil dilation during the threat condition compared to neutral in the conditioning phase, but no significant differences during extinction. Although the foreign language group presented higher arousal, fear extinction occurred regardless of the linguistic context. Conclusions: Fear extinction via verbal instructions is equally effective in a foreign and a native language context. These results indicate that evidence should be continue to be gathered on the role of foreign languages using basic paradigms with clinical applications.
According to the principles of positive psychology (PP), social learning, therapeutic robotics an... more According to the principles of positive psychology (PP), social learning, therapeutic robotics and mood induction procedures (MIPs), we have developed an application to be used as part of a positive MIP in a psychological treatment context. We have used the inexpensive humanoid robot Nao because of its ease of use, which allows the proper interaction with therapists to help them on a regular basis. Our hypothesis is that a rich body language set can compensate the lack of facial expressions in such robots. We run a pilot study in the context of cognitive behavioral therapy for the treatment of Fibromyalgia. This work introduces a new way to contribute to MIPs and to the human-robot interaction (HRI).
Background: Flying Phobia (FP) is a prevalent disorder that can cause serious interference in a p... more Background: Flying Phobia (FP) is a prevalent disorder that can cause serious interference in a person's life. ICBT interventions have already shown their efficacy in several studies, but studies in the field of specific phobias are still scarce. Moreover, few studies have investigated the feasibility of using different types of images in exposure scenarios in ICBTs and no studies have been carried out on the role of sense of presence and reality judgement. The aim of the present study is to explore the feasibility of an ICBT for FP (NO-FEAR Airlines) using two types of images with different levels of immersion (still and navigable images). A secondary aim is to explore the potential effectiveness of the two experimental conditions using two types of images compared to a waiting list control group. Finally, the role of navigable images compared to the still images in the level of anxiety, sense of presence, and reality judgement will also be explored. This paper presents the study protocol. Methods: This study is a three-armed feasibility pilot study with the following conditions: NO-FEAR Airlines with navigable images, NO-FEAR Airlines with still images, and a waiting list group. A minimum of 60 participants will be recruited. The intervention will have a maximum duration of 6 weeks. Measurements will be taken at four different moments: baseline, post-intervention, and two follow-ups (3-and 12-month). Participants' opinions, preference, satisfaction and acceptance regarding the images used in the exposure scenarios will be assessed. FP symptomatology outcomes will also be considered for secondary analyses. The anxiety, sense of presence, and reality judgement in the exposure scenarios will also be analysed. Discussion: This study will conduct a pilot study on the feasibility of an ICBT for FP and it is the first one to explore the evaluation of patients of the two type of images (still and navigable) and the role of presence and reality judgement in exposure scenarios delivered through the Internet. Research in this field can have an impact on the way these scenarios are designed and developed, as well as helping to explore whether they have any effect on adherence. Trial registration: NCT03900559. Trial Registration date 3 April 2019, retrospectively registered.
Resumen: La poblacion actual esta cada vez mas envejecida, sin embargo tan solo un 4% de las pers... more Resumen: La poblacion actual esta cada vez mas envejecida, sin embargo tan solo un 4% de las personas de la tercera edad son usuarios de Internet, poniendo este dato de manifiesto la necesidad de tomar acciones que ayuden romper con la barrera digital que existe actualmente. La tesis doctoral que nos ocupa se enmarca dentro de la Psicologia Experimental, y mas concretamente en el campo de la ergonomia cognitiva y la usabilidad. Esta tesis tiene como objetivo principal disenar, evaluar y someter a prueba en poblacion real, un sistema basado en tecnologia Web para la tercera edad, que incluya los servicios mas populares integrados en una sola plataforma y que se adapte a las necesidades especificas de este grupo de poblacion, para que pueda ser utilizado por diferentes perfiles de usuarios (incluidos aquellos con baja habilidad tecnologica), de forma autonoma, sin entrenamiento previo y sin una figura de soporte permanente. El objetivo es que el propio sistema entrene a los usuarios de la tercera edad, y les permita una aproximacion a las TICs, adaptando el sistema a su modelo mental y su experiencia previa con el consumo de informacion tradicional. La tesis se estructura en un marco teorico y un marco experimental. El marco teorico revisa y expone los estudios sobre el tema de la tesis doctoral. El marco experimental, esta dividido en 4 estudios que presentan de forma secuencial los distintos trabajos realizados a lo largo del desarrollo del sistema. La estructura del marco experimental sigue el proceso del metodo cientifico: formulacion de los objetivos e hipotesis, diseno del estudio experimental, recogida y analisis de los datos, interpretacion y discusion de los resultados y obtencion de las conclusiones. Las conclusiones de esta tesis doctoral constituyen una contribucion al proceso de diseno de sistemas tecnologicos para la tercera edad a dos niveles: a nivel teorico, la aportacion fundamental de este trabajo es haber demostrado la importancia que tiene la variable navegacion en los sistemas orientados a la tercera edad, demostrando nuestros datos que la navegacion lineal es la mas adecuada para este tipo de usuarios. A nivel empirico constituye una vision integradora de las distintas perspectivas existentes, que han ido encajando en los diferentes momentos de desarrollo. El proceso de desarrollo completo, permite obtener una vision multidimensional del significado que la usabilidad tiene cuando nos referimos a usuarios de la tercera edad, entendiendo de este modo que todos los estudios revisados, aportan informacion sustancial para solucionar el problema que supone la tecnologia para este grupo de edad, pero que por separado, resultan insuficientes. Resenas bibliograficas: Castilla, D., Garcia-Palacios, A., Breton-Lopez, J., Miralles, I., Farfallini, L., Botella, C., Banos, R. M., Etchemendy, E. (2013). Process of design and usability evaluation of a telepsychology Web and virtual reality system for the elderly: Butler. International Journal of Human Computer Studies, 71(3), 350-362. Botella, C., Etchemendy, E., Castilla, D., Banos, R. M., Garcia-Palacios, A., Quero, S., Alcaniz, M., Lozano, J. A. (2009). An e-Health System for the Elderly (Butler Project): A Pilot Study on Acceptance and Satisfaction. Cyberpsychology and Behavior, 12(3), 255-262. Preschl, B., Maercker, A., Wagner, B., Forstmeier, S., Ban?os, R. M., Alcan?iz, M., Castilla, D., ... Botella, C. (2012). Life-review therapy with computer supplements for depression in the elderly: a randomized controlled trial. Aging & Mental Health, 16(8), 964-974. Etchemendy, E., R.M. Banos, C. Botella, D. Castilla, M. Alcaniz, P. Rasal, and L. Farfallini. 2011. "An e-health platform for the elderly population: The butler system". Computers & Education, 56(1): 275-279. Lozano, JA; Alcaniz, M; Botella, C; Castilla, D; Juan, MC; de la Vega, NL; Llorca, G; Garcia-Palacios, A; Quero, S; Banos, R. (2006) Butler Project: A cognitive and emotional tele-assistance system for ederly people. Cyberpsychology & Behavior, 9(6), 696-697. Etchemendy,E, Banos,R , Botella, C y Castilla, D. (2010). Programa de revision de vida apoyado en las nuevas tecnologias para las personas mayores: Una aplicacion de tecnologias positivas. Escritos de Psicologia (Internet). Botella, C., Banos, R. M., Etchemendy, E., Castilla, D., Garcia-Palacios, A., & Mariano, A. (2012). An E-Health System for Promoting Wellbeing in the Elderly: The Butler System. En A. Smedberg (Ed.), E-Health Communities and Online Self-Help Groups: Applications and Usage (pp. 57-71). Hershey, PA: Medical Information Science DOI:10.4018/978-1-60960-866-8.ch004 Descriptores ? Psicologia Experimental ? Ergonomia Cognitiva ? Usabilidad
Background: Chronic pain has become a major health problem across the world, especially in older ... more Background: Chronic pain has become a major health problem across the world, especially in older adults. Unfortunately, the effectiveness of medical interventions is modest. Some have argued that assessment strategies should be improved if the impact of medical interventions is to be improved. Ecological momentary assessment using smartphones is now considered the gold standard in monitoring in health settings, including chronic pain. However, to the best of our knowledge, there is no randomized controlled trial to show that telemonitoring using a smartphone app can indeed improve the effectiveness of medical treatments in adults with chronic pain. The goal of this study will be to explore the effects of using a smartphone app for telemonitoring adults with chronic pain. Methods: The study will be a randomized controlled trial with three groups: treatment as usual (TAU), TAU+app, and TAU+app+alarms. All groups will receive the adequate treatment for their pain, which will be prescribed the first day of study according to clinical guidelines. Assessment in the TAU group will be the usual at the Pain Clinic, that is, a paper-and-pencil evaluation at the onset of treatment (beginning of study) and at follow up (end of study, 30 days later). The other two groups (TAU+app and TAU+app+alarms) will be assessed daily using Pain Monitor, a smartphone app developed by our multidisciplinary team. Telemonitoring will only be made in the TAU+app+alarms group. For this group, physicians at the Pain Clinic may decide to adjust pain treatment in response to alarms. Telemonitoring is not the usual practice at the Pain Clinic and will not occur in the other two groups (TAU and TAU+app), so no changes in treatment are expected in these groups after the first appointment. The total sample size will be 150, with 50 patients in each group. The assessment protocol will be the same in all groups and will include pain intensity and side effects of the medication (primary outcomes), together with several pain-related variables like pain interference, activity level, use of rescue medication, pain catastrophizing, and pain acceptance, among others. Discussion: We believe that the present trial has important clinical implications. We think that telemonitoring using ecological momentary assessment is crucial to improve current interventions for pain. The armamentarium of available treatments for pain is large, so physicians can turn to different treatments or dosages in the presence of an undesired event. The use of the app for telemonitoring can allow for this rapid detection of unwanted events, thus improving patient safety (i.e., withdrawal of treatment causing side effects) and augmenting treatment effectiveness (i.e., changing an ineffective treatment or dosage). In a time when smartphones are a mainstream technology, we should take advantage of them in the promotion of health care. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03247725. Registered on 25 July 2017.
Objective. Overall, the literature on the effectiveness of psychological treatments in general an... more Objective. Overall, the literature on the effectiveness of psychological treatments in general and those for fibromyalgia in particular has been dominated by research designs that focus on large groups and explore changes on average, so the treatment impact at the individual level remains unclear. In this quasi-experimental, replicated single-case design, we will test the feasibility and effectiveness of a brief acceptance and committed therapy intervention using ecological momentary assessment supported by technology. Methods. e sample comprised 7 patients (3 in the individual condition and 4 in the group condition) who received a brief, 5-week psychological treatment. Patient evolution was assessed one week prior to treatment onset and during the whole study with a smartphone app. Because ecological momentary assessment and the use of an app are not frequent practices in routine care, we also evaluated the feasibility of this assessment methodology (i.e., compliance with the app). Change was investigated with a nonoverlap of all pairs index. Outcomes were pain interference with sleep and social activities, fatigue, sadness, and pain intensity. Results. Patient change was not uniform across outcomes. Four patients (two in each condition) showed relatively moderate levels of change (approximately 60% nonoverlap in several outcomes). e remaining patients showed more modest improvements which affected a reduced number of outcomes. Based on nonoverlapping indices, there was no clear evidence in favor of any treatment format. Conclusions. An alternative design to large-scale trials, one that focuses on the individual change, exists and it can be implemented in pain research. e use of technology (e.g., smartphones) simplifies such designs by facilitating ecological momentary assessment. Based on our findings showing that changes were not homogeneous across patients or outcomes, more single-case designs and patient-centered analyses (e.g., responder and moderation analyses) are required.
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, Sep 9, 2020
Background. The usefulness of mHealth in helping to target face-to-face interventions for chronic... more Background. The usefulness of mHealth in helping to target face-to-face interventions for chronic pain more effectively remains unclear. In the present study, we aim to test whether the Pain Monitor mobile phone application (app) is well accepted by clinicians, and can help improve existent medical treatments for patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain. Regarding this last goal, we compared three treatment conditions, namely usual treatment, usual treatment with an app without alarms and usual treatment with an app with alarms. All treatments lasted one month. The three treatments were compared for all outcomes, i.e., pain severity and interference, fatigue, depressed mood, anxiety and anger. Methods. In this randomized controlled trial, the usual monitoring method (i.e., onsite; n = 44) was compared with daily ecological momentary assessment using the Pain Monitor app-both with (n = 43) and without alarms (n = 45). Alarms were sent to the clinicians in the presence of pre-established undesired clinical events and could be used to make treatment adjustments throughout the one-month study. Results. With the exception of anger, clinically significant changes (CSC; 30% improvement) were greater in the app + alarm condition across outcomes (e.g., 43.6% of patients experienced a CSC in depressed mood in the app + alarm condition, which occurred in less than 29% of patients in the other groups). The clinicians were willing to use the app, especially the version with alarms. Conclusions. The use of apps may have some benefits in individual health care, especially when using alarms to tailor treatments.
Acceptability (i.e. patients' expectation and satisfaction with the treatment) is claimed as an i... more Acceptability (i.e. patients' expectation and satisfaction with the treatment) is claimed as an important and additional criterion besides efficacy. Nevertheless, the literature addressing this issue in the field of Internet-based treatments for specific phobias is scarce, and no studies for Flying Phobia (FP) are available. This study aims to explore the relationship between expectations and satisfaction with treatment and clinical variables in patients who have received an Internet-based treatment for FP (NO-FEAR Airlines). The sample included 46 participants from a randomized controlled trial. Clinical measures were: Fear of Flying Questionnaire-II, Fear of Flying scale, Fear and Avoidance Scales, Clinician Severity Scale, and Patient's Improvement Scale. Results showed significant correlations between expectations, satisfaction and the change on different clinical variables. Patients' expectations significantly correlated and predicted satisfaction with the treatment. Results also revealed that satisfaction with the treatment remained as a significant predictor of the change on all clinical variables. In sum, this study offers data on the relationship between acceptability measurements and clinical variables in patients receiving an Internet-based treatment for FP.
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Emotions are at the core of human nature. There is evidence that emotional reactivity in foreign ... more Emotions are at the core of human nature. There is evidence that emotional reactivity in foreign languages compared to native languages is reduced. We explore whether this emotional distance could modulate fear conditioning, an essential mechanism for the understanding and treatment of anxiety disorders. A group of participants was verbally informed (either in a foreign or in a native language) that two different stimuli could be either cueing the potential presence of a threat stimulus or its absence. We registered pupil size and electrodermal activity and calculated the difference in psychophysiological responses to conditioned and to unconditioned stimuli. Our findings provided evidence that verbal conditioning processes are affected by language context in this paradigm. We report the first experimental evidence regarding how the use of a foreign language may reduce fear conditioning. This observation opens the avenue to the potential use of a foreign language in clinical contexts. About 1800 years ago, a tombstone for Regina was set near the Hadrian's Wall in England. Regina was a slave who was freed and married Barates, a man from Palmyra. Barates erected a monument with a Latin inscription dedicated to her: "To the spirits of the departed and to Regina, his freedwoman and wife. Barates of Palmyra set this up. She was a Catuvellaunian by tribe, aged 30". Interestingly, after this relatively neutral description, Barates added a lament in his native language, Aramaic: "Regina, the freedwoman of Barates, alas!". Barates changed languages probably because his emotional experience was best captured in his native tongue. Here, we address whether language context affects the development of a basic emotion, fear. Emotions and feelings are at the core of human nature. We all experience joy, sadness, sorrow, contempt, and fear, and we often use language to communicate these feelings. Interestingly, the vehicle used to express these emotions seems to affect how we experience them. Highly emotional words or expressions do not seem to prompt the same emotional reaction in the native and foreign languages, as Barates' story reveals 1,2. Why this happens is still unknown, but it is probably related to how native and foreign languages are typically acquired. While native languages are acquired in emotionally rich family contexts, foreign languages are often learned in more emotionally neutral academic contexts 3,4. This differential emotional reactivity has widespread effects in various cognitive domains, as revealed by the so-called foreign language effect on decision-making and language processing. For example, loss and risk aversion are reduced in foreign language contexts 5,6. Also, people tend to opt for utilitarian options more often in a foreign language when facing moral dilemmas 7 , and foreign language contexts affect automatic stages of emotional processing, modulating responses to self-related stimuli 8. Finally, processing highly arousing negative sentences elicit a reduced psychophysical response when sentences are presented in a foreign language 9,10. Three non-mutually exclusive factors have been suggested to be behind the foreign language effect: a reduction in emotional reactivity, a reduction in cognitive fluency, and an increase in psychological distance (see Costa et al. 11 and Hayakawa et al. 12 , for reviews).We do not know, however, how these factors interact to give rise to this effect. In any case, the notion that foreign language contexts increase emotional distance and/or reduce emotional reactivity is receiving strong empirical support. This opens doors to the potential use of foreign languages in scenarios where it would be desirable a less (or more) emotional involvement, like conflict resolution, moral judgment, healthy choices, or even psychotherapy. Here we focus on whether fear acquisition can be modulated by the language context in which people are set.
El uso de las nuevas tecnologias y, en concreto, la difusion de internet ha sido de gran relevanc... more El uso de las nuevas tecnologias y, en concreto, la difusion de internet ha sido de gran relevancia en el ambito academico. Junto a esto, el fomento de la independencia y la autonomia por parte del alumno han sugerido propuestas de metodologias docentes novedosas e innovadoras. Entre ellas, destaca la puesta en marcha de proyectos que, mediante internet, permitan una docencia no presencial que aporta una serie de ventajas tanto al estudiante como al profesorado. En este marco se engloba el objetivo principal del presente proyecto que persigue el desarrollo de un software para la aplicacion de una practica de aula no presencial de la asignatura I56 Tecnicas de Intervencion y Tratamiento Psicologicod e la licenciatura de Psicologia. Los resultados obtenidos mediante la puesta en marcha de esta practica en el curso 2008-2009 confirman los ya recogidos en proyectos anteriores. Esto es, una idoneidad de la metodologia empleada asi como la satisfaccion y valoracion positiva por parte de los estudiantes de la misma. Por ultimo, se plantea la necesidad de continuar con propuestas de este tipo que acerquen al estudiante universitario a metodologias docentes propias del Espacio de Educacion Europea.
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